citydesk

2012 Campaign Spending: One For the Record Books

Fundraising for the 2012 presidential election is on track to break even more records. Together, campaigns for Mitt Romney and President Obama are likely to have raised $2 billion by the time the votes are counted.

The Romney campaign announced Thursday that it had raised a record amount in the first half of October, bringing in $111.8 million dollars in only two weeks. The Romney Victory Fund, a combination of the Romney campaign, the Republican National Committee and four state Republican parties, had amassed a $169 million warchest through Oct. 17.

Much of that cash will be spent on last-minute advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts.

The Obama campaign raised $11 million more than Romney during September but now trails the challenger.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the president's campaign and affiliated Democratic committees raised $90.5 million in the first 17 days of October.

With Thursday's figures added up, the Obama campaign and party committees officially crossed the $1 billion fundraising threshold, with a record $1.037 billion, according to FEC data compiled by the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute and reported in the LA Times.

Romney is catching up quickly, with a total haul of $950.7 million.

According to CBS, both of the 2008 campaigns together raised more than $1.8 billion in inflation-adjusted figures.